Wednesday, October 22, 2008

I spent $2,295 yesterday

At the dentist...

The total estimate for ALL the work I need(ed) is $4922. That's a root canal, crown buildup and crown and amalgam fillings for eight cavities. It represents about five years of me avoiding the dentist out of fear. (You can read about the fear at mandajuice). We have dental insurance, which my dentist accepts, but it's only $1,000 per year, so I decided to have half the work done now and half done in January.

Yesterday I had just the root canal and crown done and along with the general anesthesia ($575 per hour totally not covered by insurance), the total AFTER the $1,000 our insurance kicked in was $2295. If I DON'T have general anesthesia when I get the rest of my work done, I'll be out only another $400 or so. Yesterday's anesthesia was $1200. I'm sure it was worth it, if only for the fact that it got my butt in the dentist's chair again.

The thing I keep beating myself up about is that the estimate to completely repair EVERYTHING in my mouth two years ago? Was $800. Coulda, woulda, shoulda...

Do you have stock investments? (401(k), mutual funds, individual stocks)

Do you keep a budget every month?

About Me

I am a stay-at-home mother of two (a five year old boy and a two-year old girl). Before ditching the proverbial pantyhose to wipe butts for a living, I was a professional financial planner for 7 years. I've spent thousands of hours poring over my clients' budgets, but have never consistently made time for my own. I came up with this blog as a way of illustrating one woman's spending. I wrote The Naked Leger for Club Mom for almost two years and in hindsight it definitely helped us stay better on track with our spending. A little accountability goes a long way!
As a culture, we shy away from discussing money in spite of the fact that we can all learn from each other. So I'm putting it all out there (again!).